Church with ties to Harriet Tubman catches fire during storm in Auburn

AUBURN, N.Y. -- A church with historical ties to Harriet Tubman caught fire during a storm Sunday in the city of Auburn, Cayuga County 911 dispatchers said.

A neighbor called 911 at 2:58 p.m. to say he thought lightning had struck the Thompson Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, at 49 Parker St.

The National Park Service owns the uninhabitable church, where Tubman once worshiped.

On Sunday, smoke and flames could be seen pouring from the church steeple.

“Luckily it was noticed right away,” Auburn Assistant Fire Chief Bill DiFabio said. “Firefighters were able to stop the fire before it spread from the steeple.”

The church was not destroyed, DiFabio said Sunday night.

“Damage was contained to the steeple,” he said. “Most definitely, it can be repaired.”

Auburn police closed a portion of Parker Street, from Fitch to Woodlawn avenues, while city firefighters worked to extinguish the flames. Auburn city ambulance also remained at the scene. No injuries were reported.

Auburn firefighters spent more than a half-hour battling the blaze and then remained on scene for another 2 1/2 hours.

Although a neighbor reported lightning struck the church, Auburn fire investigators are continuing to investigate to determine exactly how the fire started. They plan to contact a lightning strike center in Texas, which can pinpoint all lightning strikes within the United States, DiFabio said.

“This church has a national historical value, which could not have been replaced if the firefighters were not able to stop the fire,” DiFabio said. “But because it was noticed early and because the firefighters used an aggressive interior attack, they were able to save the church and part of Auburn’s -- and the nation’s history.”

After escaping slavery in 1849, Tubman helped others gain freedom through a network of safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.

During the Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the U.S. Army.

After the war, she settled in Auburn on property she had purchased earlier from then U.S. Senator William H. Seward, who went on to become Secretary of State.

Both the church and adjacent rectory were expected to be turned into administrative offices and a place visitors could go, but they were both in need of “substantial repair and renovations” before the fire, according to the National Park Service.

On the park service website, officials told those visiting the iconic building to “use caution when walking around the site.”

Thompson A.M.E. Zion Church in Auburn is one of three Harriet Tubman National Historical Park sites in Cayuga County. The church, along with the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged in Auburn and the Harriet Tubman Residence in Fleming are operated by National Park Service partner, The Harriet Tubman Home, Inc.

In her later years, Tubman was an activist for women’s suffrage.

She died in her early 90s in 1913 and is buried at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn.